Latest news with #AirportImprovementProgram
Dominion Post
19-07-2025
- Business
- Dominion Post
MGW on pace to soar past 14,000 enplanements in 2025
MORGANTOWN — 7,302 enplanements in six months. That's 7,302 paying customers boarding aircraft at the Morgantown Municipal Airport between Jan. 1 and June 30. To get some perspective on the impact new Essential Air Service carrier SkyWest Airlines has had since taking over for Southern Airways Express in December, consider the enplanement number this time last year was about 3,600. For all of 2024, the count was just over 7,700 — a good year by recent standards, as it marked just the second time in a decade the airport surpassed 7,300. This year, the state's only city-owned airport is on pace to fly past 14,000. And they're just getting warmed up. 'When SkyWest presented their service to us, they felt that they would be able to get close to 20,000 passengers a year,' Airport Director Jon Vrabel said. 'They didn't think it would happen maybe the first year, but possibly starting in years two and three.' For small airports, enplanement numbers mean big money. In basic terms, falling short of 10,000 enplanements – as MGW has done each year since 2011 — has traditionally slashed the amount of the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Program dollars received from $1 million to $150,000 annually. AIP funds are capital improvement and infrastructure dollars, making them critical for airports looking at expensive facility upgrades, like, for example, the $60-million-plus runway extension project underway at MGW. Consistently missing out on those AIP funds was heavy on the collective mind of the selection committee this time last year as it considered staying with Southern Airways — the city's EAS carrier since 2016 — or taking off in a different direction. Essential Air Service, or EAS, is a federal subsidy provided directly to carriers to offset the cost of rural operations and ensure air service in smaller communities. 'It is impossible to be productive in today's world and stay where we're at,' former City Manager Kim Haws said at the time. 'I feel very strongly that we need to move forward and increase, not only enplanements, but the speed with which we are attempting to extend the runway.' It certainly appears as if the first box has been checked, which should help with the second. The project to extend the MGW runway by 1,001 feet to 6,200 feet is expected to conclude sometime between 2028 and 2030, depending on the flow of funding. When it meets Tuesday, Morgantown City Council will consider receipt of a $9.5-million grant from the FAA for construction of Phase 5 and the design of Phase 6 of the project. In order to accept the grant, the city must provide a $500,000 local match. Once complete, the extension will allow MGW to step up in terms of the variety of aircraft it can accommodate. It will also allow its own carrier to fully utilize the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 jets that make up the bulk of its fleet. 'The runway length here limits how many passengers they can carry on the Chicago flight. So, that's been restricted down to somewhere between 32 and 40. During the summer, it's down around 32 and it's up in the 40s in the winter,' Vrabel said, explaining the calculation comes down to weight and air density. 'In the summer, the air is thinner and the airplane doesn't perform as well. So it needs more runway to get off the ground with the same amount of weight,' he said. SkyWest offers daily flights from Morgantown to Dulles International Airport, in Virginia, and Chicago O'Hare International Airport. 'They're just a very professional company. We see that across the board with them and they've been great to work with; easy to work with. They conduct business very much like all the major carriers do,' Vrabel said of SkyWest. A representative of the carrier said the support is appreciated. 'The Morgantown community has shown incredible support for their local air service since the first United Express flights, operated by Skywest, began last December. We are pleased that so many people have taken advantage of flights to both Chicago and Washington, D.C., and the community is continuing to utilize and enjoy SkyWest's reliable, convenient travel options for Morgantown travelers.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$1.8 million awarded to Dayton airport for runway rehab
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — More than $1.8 million in federal funds will go toward the Dayton International Airport. Congressman Mike Turner announced that $1,812,000 has been awarded to the James M. Cox Dayton International Airport (DAY). This funding is provided through the FAA's Airport Improvement Program. Funding will go toward refurbishing taxiway lighting at the Dayton Airport, as well as rehabilitate parts of the taxiway to minimize debris and to extend the life of the taxiway. 'This federal investment for Dayton International Airport underscores the critical role our airport plays in the economic impact to the Miami Valley region,' said Turner. 'The funding from the FAA will allow DAY to make the necessary renovations to extend the longevity of its taxiways for years to come.' Turner also announced $462,560 will go to the Greene County Lewis A. Jackson Regional Airport (GDK) to reseal parts of the airport terminal and tiedown apron to extend the useful life of the facilities. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Yahoo
Here's how much the feds put into Utah's national parks
More than 11 million people visited Utah's 'Mighty Five' national parks last year, a 5% increase over the previous year. In fact, national park visitation in the state grew 100% between 2005 and 2024. At the same time, National Park Service jobs grew 8%, according to a new report from the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. As of 2024, more than 1,200 federal employees worked in tourism-related jobs in Utah, including 658 in leisure and hospitality (including national parks and recreation jobs) and 605 at the Federal Aviation Administration, per the report. In addition to Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park and Zion National Park, Utah is home to 13 other national monuments, national recreation and geologic areas and national historic places. 'President Theodore Roosevelt established Utah's first national monument, Natural Bridges, in 1908,' Jennifer Leaver, Gardner senior tourism analyst, said in the report. 'Since then, the state's travel and tourism industry has boomed, with its 18 national parks and places receiving upwards of 16 million combined visitors annually.' Park visitors spent $1.9 billion in Utah, generating a $3 billion economic impact in the state in 2023, according to the National Parks Service. Utah ranked third for national park visitor spending behind California and North Carolina. All 18 parks in Utah are staffed by federal employees and receive federal funding. The federal government allocated $48.9 million in ongoing funds to Utah's parks in 2023 and over $143 million in Great American Outdoor Act National Parks and Legacy Restoration Funds since 2021, according to the report. The state's parks receive a combination of U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Transportation ongoing and one-time funds annually. The money includes $103.2 million for national park projects, $24.6 million for 13 Bureau of Land management projects, and $15.5 million for one Forest Service Project. Utah's national parks and places comprise 5.6 million acres of land in the state. The National Parks Service manages all of them except for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and Jurassic national monuments and Ashley Karst and Flaming Gorge national recreation areas. Southwestern, southeastern, and northwestern Utah had the highest number of federal leisure and hospitality jobs in 2024, excluding FAA jobs, which are concentrated in Salt Lake County, according to the report. Garfield, Wayne, and Grand counties had the largest shares of federal leisure and hospitality jobs to total jobs. Like the national parks and places, the state's airports also receive federal funding and employ federal workers. FAA jobs include air traffic controllers, aviation safety inspectors, aviation engineers and technical specialists. The U.S. Department of Transportation allocated $50.5 million in its Airport Improvement Program grant funds to the Salt Lake City International Airport and six regional and 11 municipal airports in 2024, per the report. The Salt Lake airport saw a record 28.3 million passengers last year. The Salt Lake airport received most of that funding ($34.8 million), while Utah's regional and municipal airports received $4.9 and $10.8 million, respectively. Utah's public transportation systems, including airports, roads, bridges, mass transit, and electric vehicle charging stations, have also received hundreds of millions of additional federal grant dollars in recent years. The report is the Gardner Institute's sixth in a series on state and federal economic connections.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Milwaukee airport building facility to lure cargo from Chicago area
Construction is underway at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on a modern air cargo terminal that local officials say will make it easier for Wisconsin businesses to move goods domestically and internationally, but ultimate success still hinges on attracting one or more cargo airlines that can provide airlift. The speculative project will redevelop a significant portion of a former U.S. Force Reserve base into a 337,000-square-foot dedicated cargo building with parking for up to five Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft and enhance adjacent taxiways to improve accessibility for widebody jets. An all-new airfreight facility in Milwaukee will be cheaper and more efficient for shippers in the region than having to truck goods 70 miles south to Chicago O'Hare airport, which is often congested and has high user fees, according to Milwaukee County officials and the developer. 'When this project is complete, builders and suppliers will be able to transport their raw materials and finished products in and out of Wisconsin more quickly and efficiently,' said Airport Director Brian Dranzik in a news release on a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said the four largest shippers in the state – GE Healthcare, Rockwell Automation, packaging giant Amcor and Mercury Marine, a manufacturer of boat engines – are interested in utilizing Milwaukee airport (MKE) for air transport. 'I love the fact we're taking business from Illinois,' he said in a short speech during the event, which was recorded by a local TV station. The Illinois airports Crowley alluded to are Chicago O'Hare and Chicago Rockford. O'Hare is one of the largest gateways for international cargo. Chicago Rockford is a secondary airport much closer to the Wisconsin border that has successfully created a cargo friendly alternative to O'Hare, with logistics companies renting terminal space and arranging scheduled freighter services with widebody aircraft. Many businesses located in southeast Wisconsin, including newly established tech firms, ship goods through Chicago Rockford, but the vast majority rely on feeder trucks that connect the region to Chicago O'Hare, according to local logistics experts. Crow Holdings, a privately held real estate investment and development firm with $33 billion of assets under management, is financing and managing the air logistics center in exchange for a 50-year ground lease. The facility, estimated to cost $80 million, will have high ceilings, wide open areas to facilitate storage and sorting, 68 truck docks, and stalls for 75 trailers. It is scheduled for completion in from the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Program, for the taxiway improvements, and the state of Wisconsin will cover $11.2 million of the total bill, according to the airport. The project involves tearing down a vacant business park on the former campus of the 440th Airlift Wing, extending the aircraft apron to add parking for an additional freighter and reconstructing a portion of the taxiway that doesn't meet standards. The discovery that the taxiway needed replacement slowed planning and resulted in a larger footprint than the originally planned 288,000 square feet. Developers assumed the Air Force had maintained the taxiway with overlays, but the thickness was only about 11.5 inches compared to a 19-inch subbase needed to support large cargo aircraft, said Jack Rabben, Crow's vice president of industrial, in an interview. Laying the concrete deeper meant a wider footprint was needed to achieve a minimal slope, resulting in more space that could accommodate a larger building, he explained. Existing infrastructure – power, water, sewer, fiber optic cable and roadways – and the site's proximity to the main runway attracted Crow because development costs will be much lower than a greenfield facility. And those savings will pass through to users, said Rabben. Key to monetizing the infrastructure, he said, is getting a critical mass of interested shippers and logistics providers that make it economically viable for a cargo airline to offer service at MKE. Crow is also engaging cargo agents for interest in running the cargo warehouse and handling truck-to-air transfers on behalf of airlines. 'All those shippers are currently flying products into other airports in Illinois. Obviously, it doesn't make sense to fly things into Illinois only to ship them up to Milwaukee in a truck,' Rabben said. Officials said the metro area has the third-highest-per-capita manufacturing base in the country. He said shippers will save close to 60% by operating out of MKE instead of Chicago O'Hare because of the lower ground rent, building rent, taxes, landing fees and trucking costs. Unlike facilities at many airports that are antiquated and functionally obsolete, the MKE cargo terminal will be built to the latest industry standards for efficient processing. Rabben said Crow's logistics center can easily be configured for a wide range of needs, including cold storage for pharmaceuticals and perishable foods, as well as live officials said the cargo facility also has the potential to attract passenger airlines by lowering the overall operating cost for all airlines at MKE. The new southside cargo facility will function in addition to an existing one where FedEx and UPS support a limited number of flights per week. The age of the legacy facility raises questions about how long it is serviceable, but MKE spokesperson Summer Hegranes said that 'there are no plans at this time to relocate existing cargo tenants or to make any changes to their space.' Convincing cargo airlines and logistics companies to establish operations at non-major airports is a tall order because the habit to move shipments through large metropolitan airports is ingrained and difficult to change. Southeast Wisconsin has a strong manufacturing and distribution base that could support additional air cargo service in Milwaukee, but capturing business from O'Hare will be a challenge, consultant Michael Webber said two years ago when Crow first floated the project. 'I think they're in a position to certainly pick up overflow from that Chicago market,' but O'Hare has an overwhelming advantage as an international gateway with a mix of cargo carried by passenger aircraft and freighters, Webber explained. Freight forwarders like using airports with a wide range of traffic from around the world because it gives them more shipping options and the ability to create specialized routes for their customers when direct flights aren't available. Secondary airports typically secure freighter services when a logistics company has a key client, or two, with enough volume to justify chartering dedicated flights to locations where they can enjoy priority treatment, said Webber, who once studied the cargo market for the MKE airport authority. Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch. UPS getting more elbow room at Gary/Chicago airport Kuehne+Nagel moves into new cargo facility at Birmingham airport The post Milwaukee airport building facility to lure cargo from Chicago area appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Air travel, passenger rail among focal points of Ohio transportation budget
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Billions of dollars are going to be spent in the state's two-year transportation budget, and lawmakers are working to decide where all that money goes. 'Even if you don't drive a car, you benefit from good roads and bridges and things like that,' Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said. 'I think it was both parties coming together and deciding to focus on Ohioans, what their needs are, not particular parties or controversial items,' ranking member of the Ohio House Finance Committee Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake) said. Ohio Intel plant construction in New Albany delayed by at least three years There are still different views on how funds should be spent. Some of it is straight forward, like about $30 million, over two years, to highway safety. 'We're sharpening our pencil and we're trying to say we're not going to spend funds that we don't have to,' Chair of the Ohio House Finance Committee Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said. Some of the money is going toward what lawmakers call innovation, including a new Division of Advanced Air Mobility. Representative Bernie Willis (R-Springfield) chairs the Ohio House Transportation Committee. He said a lot of people don't know this, but there are already things like charging stations for electric aircrafts at airports across the state. This division will help build on that momentum. 'These things are happening. They're active,' Willis said. 'And we want to be well ahead of this. And I think this is just a start to try to get the kind of infrastructure support we want for those airports.' Another new initiative called the Airport Improvement Program will get an estimated $5 million worth of the aircraft fuel sales tax. 'A large amount of dollars toward what are some really large projects at our airports that have been languishing,' Willis. Bill would create savings accounts for students attending private religious schools Passenger rail is also back in play. This version of the transportation budget puts $50,000 dollars, between two years, toward any costs that may be associated with Ohio rejoining the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact. 'There [are] folks like me who are less interested in talking about the train and other members who are not. So, I think, again, we're trying to come to a product that all members can support,' Stewart said. 'Let's at least take a baby step here, let's dip our toe in the water and see what we think.' The compact does things like advocate for passenger rail funding. Willis said since Ohio left the compact in 2013, attitudes toward mass transit have changed in the state. 'I think everyone's mindset of what does mass transit look like and what are all the modes that we can get and how do we reduce the volume that we already have on our streets and roads? I think it's just another avenue,' he said. Willis said whether passenger rail is fully included will be a debate, but he is confident it will get to that point. 'I think we're going to get to the point where we will have commercial providers come to us and say, 'the business case is there and we're willing to run that for you,'' Willis said. 'And then it becomes something that's great for those who have disabilities and have limited mobility. I think the passenger rail opens up a lot of opportunities for a lot of people.' The bill also creates new driver's license requirements. It would change the law for someone applying for a limited term driver's license, which is generally a noncitizen with legal status in Ohio. 'We're going to require them to do what other new drivers have to do in the state of Ohio, which is have in-person experience behind the wheel of 50 hours and also take in-person driver's training,' Stewart said. 'We can't have folks coming here who have no experience with automobiles and walking out in the day behind the wheel.' While the bill was bipartisan and did not have a single vote against it in the House, Sweeney said they also missed out on something. The Ohio Department of Transportation advocated for a gas tax increase, but Stewart said there is 'no appetite,' for that. 'We're able to meet the needs of Ohio's infrastructure today. But if you talk to the [Ohio Department of Transportation], they say that we are looking at a $300 million hole to meet the transportation needs in the near future,' she said. The $11.5 billion spending bill passed the Ohio House unanimously on Wednesday and is now in the Ohio Senate for consideration. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
